I got my TX25C2 and SRT-7 out for a quick side by side last night. This ain't no Selfbuilt review here, folks - just an overview and impressions.
Overall the total light output between the two is fairly similar, with the SRT-7 outshining the TX by a modest but noticeable amount. The SRT has a more concentrated and intense hot spot compared to the TX, throws a bit better and it's spill is slightly brighter as well. My "shine it in your friends eyes test" got 3 out 3 votes for the SRT-7. Of course, I don't recommend that any of you do this - it's unsafe and the manufacturer warns against it (heh heh! :devil
. Tint and general beam quality were good in both, as they both have nicely polished reflectors and the same led.
What I did like a lot more about the SRT was it's UI. I think the control ring is a lot more useful and direct than "coded" button presses and head twists. The head micro-switch assembly on my TX is very finicky in that if you don't keep it very clean the light will tend to stick up when switching modes. Not so with the SRT (so far anyway). The colored led's have detents on the ring, along with a beacon mode, standby detent (tail cap on and red led flashes on the side, telling you it's "hot"), an infinitely variable main beam, and a fixed frequency strobe. The light can be left set on any of these modes and turned on and off with the tail cap switch as the user desires. Also, the tail clicky is much better in the dark. The TX has little to no tactile feed back and I end up fumbling for the switch half the time.
The SRT-7 has 4 colored led modes: flashing red/blue "police" effect, blue, green and red. The police mode is kind of fun, but I don't know if it's legal to use everywhere. As to the solid colors, there's a lot of cross reflections and weird patterns in the green and blue beam, with only the red rendering a somewhat tighter, although still not very smooth beam. This is because of the way the led's are placed around the periphery of the reflector - blue part outermost, green middle and red innermost. Also, there's a pronounced difference in intensity between red and the other colors, with red being much less bright. I know human eyes are less sensitive to red than green or blue, so that might explain this difference. Anyway, red is the color I'm most likely to use and it's bright enough for dark adapted eyes.
My sample seems to have an intermittent problem with the blue led mode switching to flashing red/blue police mode unless I turn it slightly past it's detent. All the other modes work flawlessly and I don't find this to be a big deal.
In conclusion: I like this light. From what I've seen so far I be using the smaller TX for casual carry and the SRT-7 for work and astronomy.
Hope this helps with your purchasing decisions.
Overall the total light output between the two is fairly similar, with the SRT-7 outshining the TX by a modest but noticeable amount. The SRT has a more concentrated and intense hot spot compared to the TX, throws a bit better and it's spill is slightly brighter as well. My "shine it in your friends eyes test" got 3 out 3 votes for the SRT-7. Of course, I don't recommend that any of you do this - it's unsafe and the manufacturer warns against it (heh heh! :devil
. Tint and general beam quality were good in both, as they both have nicely polished reflectors and the same led.What I did like a lot more about the SRT was it's UI. I think the control ring is a lot more useful and direct than "coded" button presses and head twists. The head micro-switch assembly on my TX is very finicky in that if you don't keep it very clean the light will tend to stick up when switching modes. Not so with the SRT (so far anyway). The colored led's have detents on the ring, along with a beacon mode, standby detent (tail cap on and red led flashes on the side, telling you it's "hot"), an infinitely variable main beam, and a fixed frequency strobe. The light can be left set on any of these modes and turned on and off with the tail cap switch as the user desires. Also, the tail clicky is much better in the dark. The TX has little to no tactile feed back and I end up fumbling for the switch half the time.
The SRT-7 has 4 colored led modes: flashing red/blue "police" effect, blue, green and red. The police mode is kind of fun, but I don't know if it's legal to use everywhere. As to the solid colors, there's a lot of cross reflections and weird patterns in the green and blue beam, with only the red rendering a somewhat tighter, although still not very smooth beam. This is because of the way the led's are placed around the periphery of the reflector - blue part outermost, green middle and red innermost. Also, there's a pronounced difference in intensity between red and the other colors, with red being much less bright. I know human eyes are less sensitive to red than green or blue, so that might explain this difference. Anyway, red is the color I'm most likely to use and it's bright enough for dark adapted eyes.
My sample seems to have an intermittent problem with the blue led mode switching to flashing red/blue police mode unless I turn it slightly past it's detent. All the other modes work flawlessly and I don't find this to be a big deal.
In conclusion: I like this light. From what I've seen so far I be using the smaller TX for casual carry and the SRT-7 for work and astronomy.
Hope this helps with your purchasing decisions.
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